{"id":420997,"date":"2025-09-13T11:46:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T11:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/420997\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T11:46:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T11:46:11","slug":"worlds-tallest-sunflower-blooms-in-an-indiana-backyard-as-a-tribute-to-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/420997\/","title":{"rendered":"World&#8217;s tallest sunflower blooms in an Indiana backyard as a tribute to Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">FORT WAYNE, Ind. &#8212; When Ukrainian immigrant Alex Babich stands in his Indiana backyard craning his neck to look 35 feet (11 meters) into the sky, he isn\u2019t just staring at a sunflower. He is looking at his roots \u2014 and his future legacy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The flower, nicknamed \u201cClover\u201d and confirmed Wednesday by Guinness World Records as the tallest sunflower ever measured, stretches as high as a telephone pole.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Achieving the feat holds special significance for the 47-year-old Babich since sunflowers are the national flower of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Born and raised in Ukraine, he immigrated to the U.S. at age 14 in 1991 after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Seven years ago, he started <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/ukraine-kyiv-flowers-russia-7e59d5c4b496611b42c35deeea460fd1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">growing sunflowers<\/a> as a symbol of his <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-europe-russia-nuclear-disarmament-disarmament-777aab2d375f3d3fed15dc7519783826\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">love for his home country<\/a>. Babich\u2019s first sunflower was 13 feet (4 meters) tall, then 15 (4.5), then 19 (5.8). Quickly, he began asking himself, \u201cHow far can we take this?\u201d Babich said the record-breaking flower was the result of \u201ctrial and error over years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cIt\u2019s one of my kids,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re out there every day taking care of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Babich&#8217;s 10-year-old son also had an important contribution that earned the towering flower its name. He would climb onto the scaffolding and place four-leaf clovers on the sunflower&#8217;s leaves, for good luck. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cI\u2019m going to die someday, but the stories of this flower will live on,\u201d he said. &#8220;My kids will be telling this story to the grandkids.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">When measuring day came on Sept. 3, Babich was nervous.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">About 85 people had gathered to watch, including several master gardeners from a local university and representatives from the Allen County Department of Weights and Measures. Babich was on a WhatsApp call with a representative from Guinness World Records. A camera crew was filming, and a drone flew overhead. Even Icy D. Eagle, the mascot of the Fort Wayne Komets minor league ice hockey team, was there, according to Guinness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">They used a 40-foot cherry picker to measure the flower. Clover was 35 feet (11 meters) and 9 inches (22.9 centimeters), 5 feet (1.5 meters) taller than the previous world record holder in Germany.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cIt\u2019s very emotional,&#8221; Babich said. &#8220;It\u2019s as good as it gets for someone who grows giants.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Growing up amid food shortages in Ukraine sparked Babich&#8217;s love for gardening. His affection for <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-wartime-imagery-849debb0f952d442ddd9a7db67706b14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sunflowers deepened<\/a> after Russia&#8217;s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cWe just pray that the war will end, that the killing will stop,&#8221; Babich said. \u201cWe just hope this inspires some people in the right places. It\u2019s been long enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \"><a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-business-flowers-europe-gardening-c4728853c7ddd1e09c4b6ac5471b3af0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The sunflower<\/a> has long been a national symbol representing peace in Ukraine, and since 2022, it has become a symbol of <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-boris-johnson-london-flowers-eastern-europe-b6c17aea3bd9d747261bbaf71abda10d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">solidarity<\/a> with the embattled country. In one viral video clip in the war&#8217;s early days, a Ukrainian woman confronted a Russian soldier, ultimately offering to &#8220;put <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-10548649\/Put-sunflower-seeds-pockets-grow-Ukraine-soil-Woman-confronts-Russian-troops.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sunflower seeds in your pocket<\/a> so they grow when you die.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In 1996, ministers from the U.S., Russia and Ukraine <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-europe-russia-nuclear-disarmament-disarmament-777aab2d375f3d3fed15dc7519783826\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">planted sunflowers at the Pervomaysk<\/a> missile base to mark the country&#8217;s nuclear weapon disarmament. In 1986, after the explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant that later brought Babich&#8217;s family to the U.S., scientists planted sunflowers to remove toxins from the soil.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Babich&#8217;s sunflower will soon be the star of a documentary, titled \u201cBloom,\u201d planned for release this summer. In the meantime, Babich has started planting sunflowers around campsites he visited with his family and passing out seed packets to children at festivals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Plastered onto the seed packets are stickers with the words \u201cSpread the love \u2013 sunflower seeds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">___<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">Fernando reported from Chicago. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT WAYNE, Ind. &#8212; When Ukrainian immigrant Alex Babich stands in his Indiana backyard craning his neck to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7654],"tags":[144000,3907,2000,299,25924,4179,388,14903,79,7143,657],"class_list":{"0":"post-420997","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ukraine","8":"tag-144000","9":"tag-article","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-flowers","13":"tag-general-news","14":"tag-lifestyle","15":"tag-oddities","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-u-s-news","18":"tag-ukraine"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115196827040487863","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}